The Evolution of a Card

So — today I thought maybe I would give you a rare glimpse into the way I create a card. :) This card was pretty typical of the way it goes with me. I'll be interested to hear if you're the same or if I'm just weird. (Sorry if you're just here because you actually know me and want something newsy from the Hayes front... this post is going to bore you to death. You might want to check out now...)

First of all, I often start with a challenge for fun and inspiration. This one is the Curtain Call Color Challenge {Act 65}. Fun colors this week. Kinda made me think party. And when I started thinking party, I started thinking banners. Time to pull out Papertrey Ink's Banner Builder set (again).

SHOW

 
And, here we go...

Pull out the ink pads of the challenge colors — and PTI white cardstock. (Love their cardstock!)

I had in mind a white card with a white textured panel on top — the bottom edge punched with an interesting border. The pennant banner with the baker's twine and the sentiment banner at the bottom were part of the original idea.

After assembling the panel, it just looked too blah on top of a plain white card. So I tried adding more texture by using an embossing folder on the card's front. Yikes! Way. Too. Much. Texture. Maybe it was the folder I chose (Stampin' Up's Square Lattice), but it was way too busy. (Funny thing to say when all that busy-ness was pure white.)

Set aside the textured card and pulled out another blank — this time thinking background stamp. PTI's music background in red worked well.

But now something else seemed to be missing. So I pulled out PTI's Little Bitty Bird. Since everything was already textured and adhered, I had to use post-it's to mask off the stamped background and the pennants. Stamping the branch was not easy with the texturing already done and everything up on dimensionals, but it worked out OK... except that there was ink on the acrylic block and some of it smeared onto the textured cardstock. Grrr.

I was already planning the bird, but now its placement became critical since it had to cover the ink smear. So I stamped the bird in black (music still masked off) and covered it with the matching bird die cut in blue. Putting it on dimensionals made the smear too visible and I still had to tilt it slightly to get the excess green ink covered. (Thus, his legs don't match up too well... oops. Maybe it's not too noticeable.)

Decide on a paper-pieced wing. A green wing. Cut it out, glue it down and — oh, no! — too much green on the card. Doesn't look good. Can't get the wing off. Cut out another wing... this time orange. Glue it on top of the green wing. Better.

And that is how this card came to be. Funny enough — they talk about the rule of threes, and somehow, quite by accident, in the color department, this card follows the rule pretty much completely. Three orange elements. Three green. Three blue. And three red (kind of...).  

So — cardmakers, do you do that? Does your card just evolve as you play around with your stuff or do you start with a complete idea of what you want to do and that's what happens. I rarely have the completely finished product in mind when I get started. Maybe that's why it takes me so long to finish anything! haha.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Banner Builders, Background Basics: Music, Little Bitty Bird, Fillable Frames #8); cardstock is PTI (white) and Stampin' Up (Pacific Point); ink is SU (Real Red, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie) and PTI (True Black); baker's twine is from The Twinery (Maraschino); also used PTI dies (Banner Builder Collection, Little Bitty Bird, Double-Ended Banner), PTI impression plate (Background Basics: Diamonds), and EK Success large edger punch (Circles).

I think that's it. I sure know how to make what could be a very short post a very long one, don't I? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a really wonderful weekend!

Comments

[Danielle]

So cute! I like how you used the music stamp on the background.

[Jessie McLaughlin]

I love the banner on the card! Oh so cute!!

[Jen Carter]

My cards always evolve, I rarely start out with a finished card in my mind unfortunately! I love this card! Love the banners lots!! Love the blue bird with the paper pieced wing...so cute!!

[SueB]

My cards evolve but not always the same way. It's a rare occasion that I final card is something I've pictured in my mind. I like to use challenges as a jumping off point or other times using someone else's card for inspiration. Or, sometimes I just want to use up scraps and then I NEVER know what will happen.

[Eva C]

What a neat card! I really like the large circles in the scallops and teh way you placed the treebranch and bird over the banner.

[Kara]

pretty!! love the texture!

[Laurie W.]

Janelle this is darling! I love all the little details! You did a fantastic job with the colors!!

[Vicky]

I love the way your card ended up! Yes, my card-making follows a similar pattern except that I never glue anything down until the bitter end! (sometimes very bitter!)

[Monika/buzsy]

What a super cute card! Love the cute bird, the banner... great use of the colors. Thanks for playing along with us at Curtain Call. :o)

[Danell Anderson]

Janelle, love this card...all the layers, banners, music and a darling birdie. Sweet!

[Jen W.]

Cool post, Janelle. It's fun to see how other people's minds work. :) Very occasionally I know exactly what I want to do with a card but most of the time it evolves as I'm working on it. And sometimes an those little accidents (ink smudges, etc) produce brilliant ideas!

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